Process of heating fluids



Feb. 16 1926.

F. E. WELLMAN PROCESS OF HEATING FLUIDS 7'0 CMDENSCB gwuwntoo Filed Sept. 13, 1921 I atto'z wag in to the accompanying drawing.

Patented eb. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES FRANK E. "WELLIMIAN, OF KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO THE KANSAS om GASOLINE COMPANY, OF KANSAS CITY,

KANSAS, A CORPORATION 01 raocnss or HEATING FLUIDS. l-

Application filed September 13, 1921. Serial No. 500,424. I

To all whom it may] concern:

Be it known that FRANK E. WELLMAN, a citizen of the Um ed States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Wyandotte and State of- Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Heating Fluids, of which the following, is a specification, reference being had there- My invention relatesto heating systems, with particular reference to heating liquids such as oil. In-certain operations, such as the cracking of petroleum, and the vaporizing of many liquids, the amount of work done in the liquid, other things being equal, is proportional to the surface heated. By the present invention I greatly increase the surface heate and at the sametime have the advantage, of using surfaces not ordinarily available. tages flow frorp this choice of surface. For example, the urning out of still bottoms due to the deposition of carbon while highly heated, can be entirely avoided.

Briefly stated, my invention depends up on the use-of sand or equivalent material,

freshly heated material until heating operation is first heating it to the desired temperature in a furnace or'retort, then asslng it into contact with the body to be eated, then dischargin'git from said contact and continuously replacing it with the desired complete. For econothe discharged material is returned to the furnace for re-heating and the same material. is thus employed repeatedly, the process becoming a cyclicone for the continuous transfer of heat energy from furnace to still or equivalent body.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1- is a side view with parts in section;

Figure 2 is a plan view; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view-without de as a heat carrier,

tail, showing a modification.

,Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a still body; 2 the setting therefor (usually of fire brick); 3 a hopper; 4 a discharge 'valve for the hopper; 5 a discharge recep- (shown as of the bucket the upper end of the 8 the furnace (suptacle; 6 a conveyor, type) 7 .a chute from conveyor to the furnace; ported on rocking or rolling supports 8 an oscillated or rotated by mechanism 8f); 9,

Certain ancillary advand details of the oil containing 10, 11 and 12 are stack connections; and 8 is the discharge spout from the heater to the still. F

. It is not my purpose in the present a pli'cation to describe or claim details of t e mechanism 8 for heating,.or 6 for hoisting,

Both of these are, in various forms and for their'general purpose, well known, and so far as they are concerned the illustration herein is typical only. For examples of similar heating apparatus reference is made to the following U. S. Letters Patent: J. S.

ICE.

Fasting, No. 997,381, patented July 11,-

1911; B. E. Eldred, No. 821,994, patented May 29, 1906; C. Ellis,.No. 813,630, patentedFebruary 13, 1906; C. Ellis, No. 812,786, patented February 13, 1906; and E. H. Hurry and H. J. Seaman, No. 645,031,

patented -March 6, 1900. It will be under-.-

that the character of the fuel em-' stood ployed may vary in accordance with the process to which my present invention is a plied, and that ,it may be directly or indirectly applied to the kiln member 8, that is to say supports leaving a space all around between it and the setting or enclosure 2, which is of fire-brick or other suitable material. The I upper and lower. heads of this still are connected by tubes 20 which furnish additional heating surface in a manner to be presentl described. The feed for the still is throng pipe 13, controlled by valve 15, and having a portion of its length formed into a preheater coil 14 enclosed within a casing 11' directly by combustion within-.or around turn will heat the contents of the tube-in through which stack gases pass from elbow 10 as they leave the kiln 8. v

Risers 16 are placed in the head of the still and connected to a re lating tank 17 in the side ofwhich is a g ass 18 so place that the level of the liquid is continuously.

shown.

' The pipe line 19 system; or fractionator, and as shown is intended tobe typical of any usual -'arrangement for taking off, refluxing, fractionating or condensing. This and other art of the system may be varied without eparting from oes to the condensin g g 100 oscillates,

the spirit of my invention, which has to do only with the heating, and the direct relation between the heating part of the system and the oil under treatment.

The operation of the foregoing apparatus will now be understood. Sand is introduced into the heating system, as at 5, or directly into 8, and as the kiln 8 rotates or circulation commences. The sand passes through the kiln and is heated to the desired temperature, and then flows from the heater to the hopper 2* in the top of fire-brick setting 2, then falls by gravity down the outside of the still and also through the tubes 20 extending through the inside of the still, then into the. hopper 3. The throttle 4 enables the flow of sand through and around the still to be controlled and regulated. From hopper 3 the sand falls into receiver 5, fromwhich it is raised by the hoist or conveyer 6 back to the heater 8, which it, enters via chute 7.

In Figure 3 I have suggested a modified arrangement in which the still 'or boiler is a horizontal cylinder, the setting 2 being modified accordingly, and the sand flowing down around the sides from pipes 9 taking the place of elbow 9 in Figures 1 and 2. The rest of the apparatus would be the same as shown in Figures 1 and 2. I

With the system here illustrated I obtain approximately ten times the heating surture.

face that can be obtained on previously known forms of stills. In cracking oil this is vvery im ortant, as the cracking process is peculiar y de endent for success on the area of surface eated. Moreover, there is another important result flowing from my use of' sand as a heat conveyer in the manner described, viz, the conservation of fuel. In a properly designed system, there need be practically no expenditure of heat energy except that actually and usefully employed.

What I claim is 1. The process of heating fluids and the like which consists in first heating a mass of granular refractory material and then flowing the same over and about the body of fluid to be heated and out of contact therewith.

2. The process of heating fluids and the like which consists in isolating the fluid to be heated in a heat conducting container, heating a mass ofgranular refractory material in a separate zone, flowing the same over and about the container to effect a transmission of heat therethrough to the liquid, then returning the same to be reheated, and repeating said stepsiin continuously recurring cycles.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signa- FRANK E. WELLMAN. 

